WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Moments before halftime, Notre Dame long snapper Jordan Cowart scrambled up the ramp. Of all people, he had sparked a fracas on punt coverage and duly was flagged for it. All eyes tracked his premature departure with more than a little curiosity.

This is what it came Saturday night to at Ross-Ade Stadium. Gossiping about the long snapper. In this spurt of absurdity was bliss for the Irish, though, because they had squeezed every particle of intrigue out of the on-field doings. Eventually it ended with a 38-10 stomp-down of Purdue, a refreshingly drama-free event.

Good teams choke the air out of an inferior opponent, never offering reprieve. So Notre Dame (3-2) acted like an exceptionally good team Saturday, scoring 24 seconds in and then piling up 551 yards of offense -- a yard shy of doubling up Purdue's middling total.

"Limiting turnovers, playing fundamentally well on both sides of the ball -- I'd say it's probably the most complete we've played," Irish quarterback Tommy Rees said. "But it's not where we want to be."

Tailback Cierre Wood's 191 yards led a ground game that was as effective as a cannonball shot through custard. Rees threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Floyd, stifled a week earlier, accumulated 12 catches and 137 yards.

The first-unit defense asphyxiated the Boilermakers (2-2) to just one field goal while Purdue imploded with 13 penalties for 118 yards, and that was that.

"I love the way we matched their intensity in the fifth week of the season," Irish coach Brian Kelly said above some locker-room commotion. "You can see they're pretty happy about the way they played."

There was some consternation before kickoff: Prized freshman defensive end Stephon Tuitt did not travel because of the team's "missed-class policy," per Kelly.

Tuitt was expected to play as late as Thursday but apparently was a no-show for class Friday and therefore a no-go Saturday. Kelly said Tuitt will be available next weekend.

Meanwhile, the players who played delivered with only minor glitches.

On the game's first snap, Irish cornerback Gary Gray intercepted an unsightly pass from Purdue's Caleb TerBush. Two plays later, Rees hit Floyd for a 35-yard scoring toss, and the Irish had a quick 7-0 lead.

David Ruffer had a field goal blocked and missed another, but the galling, game-changing mistakes didn't surface. Jonas Gray and Wood tallied touchdown runs before halftime, as Notre Dame ran up 314 yards by the break.

Rees added touchdown tosses to Tyler Eifert and TJ Jones in the third quarter on surgical marches. The Irish's propensity for self-immolation was a non-factor. Purdue was hopeless, a stack of kindling. All the Irish had to do was light the fire and walk away.